Abstract ID: 143
Authors:
Prem Ananth Palaniappan
Ng Ai Kah
Farizah Mohd Hairi
Hazreen Abdul Majid
Affiliations:
Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Centre for Population Health, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Health Sciences University, Bournemouth, United Kingdom.
Abstract:Background: Unhealthy dietary habits, driven by a shift from home-cooked meals to dining out are contributing significantly to Malaysia’s rising burden of non-communicable diseases. As key influencers of food quality outside the home, food handlers play a critical role in shaping public health. However, validated instruments to assess healthy cooking behaviour among Malaysian food handlers are scarce. Objectives: This study aimed to adapt, translate and validate the Healthy Cooking Index in Malay (HCI-M) to assess healthy cooking behaviours among Malaysian food handlers. Methods: The tool underwent a rigorous adaptation process involving local contextualization of cooking practices, content validation by experts, forward-backward translation by linguistic and subject specialists, face validity testing, test-retest reliability and principal component analysis (PCA). Eligible participants were adult food handlers proficient in Malay, recruited through purposive sampling from food premises at University of Malaya and Kota Marudu, Sabah. Fast food and bakery establishments were excluded. Participants completed a self-administered questionnaire. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS and FACTOR software. Results: The HCI-M demonstrated good item level and excellent scale level content validity (CVI =0.86 and 0.96 respectively) and was well-understood by the target group. Test-retest reliability showed acceptable to excellent agreement across items (Kappa > 0.40). PCA confirmed three meaningful components (Eigenvalue>1) with all items loading above 0.4. The components showed good to excellent reliability estimates in explaining variance in item responses (0.81-0.95). Conclusion: The HCI-M is a valid and reliable tool to assess healthy cooking behaviours among Malaysian food handlers. Its use can guide researchers, educators and policy makers in designing effective interventions to improve cooking practices and reduce diet-related disease risk at population level.
Keywords: Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), Food Handlers, Healthy Cooking Behaviour, Non-communicable Diseases, Healthy Cooking Index, Malaysia
